U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,987 discloses a tangential cutting insert and an insert holder. When seated in the insert pocket of the insert holder, the major side surface of the cutting insert abuts the base surface of the insert holder at four points along two theoretically parallel contact lines.
However, during the manufacture of the cutting insert, specifically during the sintering of the cutting insert, the insert geometry can become distorted and this can lead to the distortion of contact lines, for example they may become non-linear. This in turn can lead to the cutting insert not being seated in a stable position when located in the insert pocket. With such cutting inserts it may not always possible to solve this problem by grinding the major side surfaces. It may be, for example, undesirable to grind the major side surfaces, especially if the major side surfaces extend between the cutting edges and it is undesirable to grind the cutting edges.